There will be changes to Chatham-Kent’s Blue Box program in the new year, however there will be little to no impact on most area residents.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says as of January 1, 2024 the municipality will begin following the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model, shifting the cost of recycling to producers of Blue Box materials.
“It’s still going to happen, it’s still going to have the same schedules and everything,” Canniff explains. “The province has said the people that produce all of the items that we recycle, they’re now responsible to pay for having this happen. That’s going to be taken over by a designated provincial company.”
Chatham-Kent is one of 126 communities transitioning to this new standardized Blue Box model between July 2023 and December 2025. Ontario will fully transfer to the EPR model in January 2026.
As well, starting in the new year, curbside collection of blue box materials from ineligible sources through the municipal contract will be discontinued.
That includes industrial and commercial properties, not-for-profit organizations, municipal buildings, daycares, places of worship, campgrounds, and commercial farms.
Overall, officials say represent just over 1.4% of the total current curbside stops in the current service area.
In a report to council, administration said it is expected that where private collection is not arranged for existing ineligible participants, most of the Blue Box materials will be disposed of in the garbage stream.
As a worst-case scenario, by not collecting from ineligible sources it’s estimated that an average of 152 metric tonnes would be added to the landfilled waste stream every year. This represents a cost increase of $8,900 in disposal fees annually.
Although they are not mandated to do so, if the municipality had decided to collect Blue Box recycling from ineligible sources in the new year, it’s estimated that it would have cost the municipality $275,000 annually.
Canniff says cost savings by shifting to the new standardized blue box model could open the door to expanding Chatham-Kent’s recycling program to include organic materials.
“We are seriously looking at it, and looking at implementing it in the future.”